Frantic rush to reach scores of students missing for days after boarding school collapse in Indonesia

CNN

By Helen Regan, Masrur Jamaluddin, CNN

(CNN) — Indonesian rescue teams are frantically searching for scores of young students buried for two days under rubble in Sidoarjo, East Java, after their Islamic boarding school collapsed on them during afternoon prayers.

In one pocket of the mangled concrete of the collapsed century-old Al Khoziny boarding school, authorities located six children alive and were running food, water and oxygen to the trapped group.

But in total, at least 91 people remain missing, Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority (BPBD) said late Tuesday.

At least six have died, according to Yudhi Bramyanto of Indonesia’s national Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the AP reported Wednesday. BPBD earlier reported at least 100 injuries in the collapse.

Indonesian officials have warned that time is running out to reach those still alive as the mammoth rescue operation entered its third day on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. TNI Suharyanto, head of the BNPB, visited the site of the collapse on Wednesday to inspect the damage.

Suharyanto was sent by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who also shared his condolences with the victims’ families.

“May they remain strong and be granted patience,” the BNPB head said.

The rescue mission will prioritize locating those presumed alive, Suharyanto said, but the bodies of the victims will be recovered in due time.

“(The) evacuation of confirmed deceased victims will take place only after we are confident that those still alive can be safely rescued,” Suharyanto added.

Laksita Rini, head of Fire and Rescue Department in the East Java city of Surabaya, told CNN that there was still hope as “once a specific location is identified, the chances of survival can be increased.”

Rescue efforts are under further strain, however, after an earthquake struck the region of Sumenep, about 124 miles from the collapse site, Reuters reported. Authorities fear the impact of those tremors may have packed the debris tighter.

The six trapped children were able to communicate with the team on Wednesday, and rescuers were creating “tunnel-like passages or culverts to save the survivors,” she added.

Emi Frizer, an official from Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, expressed concern over Tuesday’s 6.5 magnitude quake. He told Reuters it is likely to reduce space for those still trapped and narrow the room for maneuver during an already complicated rescue mission.

“How to hold on to the targets’ lives while still having the same access – that’s going to take us a little longer,” Frizer said.

There are 15 locations that teams are focusing on, six of which are strongly suspected to still contain survivors, the head of Basarnas, Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Syafii, told local TV station Kompas.

Without specifying the exact number still alive, Syafii said rescue teams have managed to establish communication with several trapped people.

Desperate family members have gathered at the school in Sidoarjo, about 420 miles east of Jakarta, where a list naming the missing students had been posted.

The students were mostly boys aged between 12 and 18 who were performing afternoon prayers in a hall on Monday when the building collapsed on top of them, according to the Associated Press.

Holy Abdullah Arif, 49, ran to the school when he heard about the incident to find that his 13-year-old nephew was listed among the missing.

“I ran around screaming, ‘Rosi! Rosi! If you can hear me and can move, get out!’” he told Reuters news agency.

“And then a child was screaming back from the rubble, he was stuck. I thought that was Rosi, so I asked, ‘Are you Rosi?’ and the child said, ‘God, no, help me!’”

“I don’t know how he’s doing, whether he can be saved, whether he’s dead or alive,” he said.

About 300 rescue workers continued to try and reach those trapped on Wednesday. But efforts have been hampered by the instability of the collapsed structure, and there are concerns that using heavy machinery to remove the debris would cause the building to further collapse.

“Rescue efforts are currently focused on manually digging holes and gaps to evacuate surviving victims,” the BPBD said.

Video from the scene showed teams working under the building, carefully chipping away at the debris to find a way through the huge slabs of concrete and exposed rebar.

Nanang Sigit, lead search and rescue coordinator, told the AP that rescuers had been running oxygen to those still trapped under the debris to keep them alive.

He added that rescuers saw several bodies under the rubble but were focused on saving those who were still alive, the AP reported.

“Although facing unstable building debris conditions and a lot of material at the site, the (joint rescue) team continues to try to evacuate victims prioritizing safety,” he said in an updated statement.

Special units from the national search and rescue agency Basarnas arrived to help with the search on Tuesday, equipped with breathing apparatus, medical evacuation gear, and other extraction tools.

Teams with the Surabaya Fire and Rescue department have also deployed heavy duty rescue gear including “a sophisticated search camera capable of detecting victims among the rubble, and a heart rate monitor that can detect the heartbeat of survivors,” Rini told CNN.

More than 80 people managed to escape in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, and rescue teams have pulled a further 11 people from the building, Basarnas said. One person was found dead.

Three people were pulled alive from the rubble Tuesday, but two later died of their injuries in hospital, according to the agency.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the collapse.

A fourth floor of the school was under construction at the time of the collapse, Syafii said, and as the building came down, all four floors stacked onto each other.

The prayer hall construction had been ongoing without a permit, the AP reported, citing local authorities.

“This is a wake-up call,” said Indonesian Religious Affairs minister Nasaruddin Umar, who visited the site, according to Indonesian news agency Antara.

“Many Islamic schools are built through community efforts without adequate technical supervision, which poses serious risks,” he said.

Char Reck contributed to this report.

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